tenebris creaturae
by Confused.Turtle
Summary: Sakura, a young Neko-Yokai possessed soul, is apart of an Elite organization. The seasoned assassin has had to face many challenges throughout her life, yet this one takes the prize. In a world of Spirits (Yokai) and Gods, it's harder than it looks. Based off of Japanese folklore, Shintoism and Buddhism.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Nope, not mine.

 **Pairing:** Undecided, possibly none.

 **A/N:** Inspiration just hit me like a bus at 3 am so here you go!

 **\- prologue -**

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Don't let her fool you with her cute heart shaped face and short pink locks. That glitter in her emerald eyes is more than just a trick of light. Its fire. It's your warning from the kami to get out while you still have the chance for even they fear her.

She's vicious. She's elegant.

A pretty girl wouldn't be thought one to harbor a demon, now would she. Terrifying speed and agility. Cat like reflexes and eyes that see everything. She's a seductress, a mother to her teammates, a skilled killer, an attractive face and a doctor, no nurse. She's the epitome of death

and life itself. Dark and light configured into one being.

She's Haruno Sakura-

And she won't be struck down.

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* * *

 _yes i'm aware that i've started another fanfic even though i have like for our five still going that i have updated in months. please don't kill me, i do actually have an update for high school badass almost finished. i'm currently re-writing clock but i've barely grazed that sooooooo- no promises. i haven't looked at the first chapter for my violin fic in a while but its already a little long so i might just post it. i have a lot of stuff going on at once and i've kinda been on an unannounced hiatus so ill be back in action for the next few months considering summer vacation is coming and i'm almost done exams._

 _anyway this has been in my head for a bit and its kinda like a prologue. i'm thinking of just making this like two chapters... two really long chapters... btw my caps lock and shift are currently broken due to a ramen spilling accident so thats why i cant use caps without the auto-correct on word... life's cruel._

 _sorry again!_

 _-jojo_


	2. The down fall of the Byakko

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, no ownage.

 **Pairing:** Undecided, possibly none.

 **A/N:** Send literal help, I can't stop writing this AU it's my baby now.

 **-The down fall of the Byakko** ** _-_**

 ** _._**

 _"When I'm dead and gone will they sing about me? Dead and gone, will they scream my name?"_

 _\- Tove Lo / Scream my name_

 ** _._**

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Her fist sliced through the air fast and precise. Her blood pumped, as she screamed internally. The adrenaline searing through her veins. She hated it.

Yet she couldn't get enough.

It ran in her blood. To kill, to hunt, to track.

To assassinate.

Her fist hit its target and she felt his temple crack under its force. It only made her want more. She lusted for it.

Monster.

She knew what she was. The Pinkette still flung herself up into the air with the grace of a feline to swipe her leg down on her kill mercilessly. Needless to say the mans shoulder blade was a little more than bruised and she was slowly losing to the dark, gunk that flooded her mind.

Her split side taking over, she could only watch from a distance as her body lost control. She- no longer attached to this monster- closed her eyes as her body that was no longer hers held the reigns to her life in its hands. The outer-body experience wasn't anything new, although she wished it was. She could only look on, too petrified at what she actually became. It was the same every time, but that didn't mean she ever got used to it.

Creature of the night. Feline, Yokai, vampire, blood-sucker, demon, scum. Her kind went by many names. Although she also knew what all the other night-spirits called her species. She simply let it go over time.

Because they had every right to call her kind that.

Her kind killed without thought and had too much pride. They were snobby and pretentious like they owned the entire world. In reality all they were, were Neko-Yokai possessed souls. Which made sense to a certain a extent with the "better than everyone else" attitude. Although they weren't really possessed, it was more like the additional Yokai attached itself to, typically, a human child's soul. Kinda like a pet in a way? It was an interdependent relationship...

Her body finished off the target and allowed her to take back control. She felt the more malicious part of her slowly retreat to the recesses of her mind once again, like it always did.

Sakura leaned against one of the alleyway walls as she collapsed. Her eyes closed and she took a few deep breaths. Re-opening her emerald orbs she watched as the corpse before her slowly turned to dust, only leaving behind its sickeningly dark ichor.

These missions always took a toll on her mental health. Having a split-personality was very difficult, and having a dark, evil one at that was just plain suicidal. Kami-sama why did a Neko-Yokai* have to inhabit her soul and not a more easy going spirit?

Killing for a living was just what her kind did, it was what they were known for. The worst part was; she was good at it. The best in her area of expertise, night-crawls. Night-crawls were what they called lone missions that took place during the dead of night. She didn't bode well with partners... She hated when others saw her darker half, even if they all had one. Hers had always seemed more sinister.

Threading a hand through her shoulder length hair, she scooped the front of it up into a small bun at the back of her head, leaving it in a half up-do.

Another night, she sighed, another kill.

She didn't know what she did in her previous life to deserve this, it must have been terrible, because nothing comes close to feeling the life leave your victim as you squeeze it out of them.

The pinkette shivered as the October air blew against her alabaster skin, the poor Yokai-possessed soul watched several red leaves swirl and twist in the air before slowly lowering to the demon blood stained pavement. The black gunk covered the leaves and the pretty red things disintegrated to nothing.

These kinds of targets weren't so bad, she thought. After all they were mostly filthy, vengeful demons around this time of year. But once they'd been happy, living souls, and that was what bothered her.

Pushing aside her worries, Sakura slowly pushed herself up as she watched the black ichor vaporize. Mission complete.

She did have a reputation to uphold.

Most thought her to be cold and calculating. Unfeeling. A good little robot that obeyed her higher ups orders without question. Most of her kind were thought to be that way. Killing machines. They almost always carried out each mission successfully, especially her. She had a 100% success rate, never failing a mission since of younger days.

In reality though, that was not completely true, she did, in fact, have a personality. A life.

She was quit open and a little loud, maybe she didn't speak often of her past but she wasn't distant nor cold. The pinkette had a large group of friends, albeit those she graduated from the academy with, but her closest friends none the less.

When all of the demons blood was gone and she had made sure no traces of the fight were left behind, Sakura, with a number of hand seals, left in a swirl of cherry blossoms.

She didn't particularly know why, but it seemed her little Neko-Yokai had an obsession with the flower. At the age of three, when the typical possession rituals for children took place, her pale blonde hair took on a pink hue after the Yokai attached itself to her soul. Many of her techniques involve the pale-pink blossom as well nowadays. It was just one of the many mysteries of her strange Yokai, which seemed to posses many qualities others didn't have. Even her fellow Neko spirits didn't show any of her... Redeeming qualities. It's often caused others to have prejudiced opinions about her.

She often liked to take her good friends advice, so in Ino and Temari's words "Fuck 'em."

Sakura allowed a tiny smile to take to her features as she walked down the halls of her HQ to report.

Speaking of friends...

No one seemed to be about in the long winding corridors. Not a whisper reached her sensitive ears. That was... Strange...

Peering into her Shishou's office, the 18 year old was almost distraught when she found only an empty chair and chilly room. A few minutes later she had to fight down the rising panic within her when the lounge room and dining hall were empty too.

She feared the worst as she came to a stop in front of the sacred room. Here is where everyone gathered for funerals, weddings and other religious rites. It also served as a shrine to the leader of all Neko-Yokai. The dominant spirit of her kind.

The white tiger, or rather the Byakko.

This was their God, of course. The Byakko was the God of war and had helped several emperors armies succeed in their battles against demons during the dark ages. This was the reason their kind was prone to violence and the life of assassins. Most ninja, long ago, had been mainly composed of Neko-Yokai, for they had been the most qualified for the stealthy jobs.

So Sakura knew for a fact, that today nobody was to be married, and there was no holiday. No one within the community at HQ had been killed, or else she would have felt it. Everyone within the organization had, of course, gone through with the blood pact, so every single one of them were connected somehow. Everyone was close with one an other, not exactly what others would suspect trained assassins to be like, but they were none the less.

That only left one thing so major to take every person off duty for the day to come here.

Pushing open the heavy oak wood doors, the pinkette was sad to say she wasn't surprised to so every single member of the organization she resided within, to be kneeling traditionally, heads bowed.

"No..." She whispered out pitifully.

She'd only been gone for two days dammit! How?!

How... Why...?

In front of her, Naruto was bowed, tears pouring down his whisker scarred cheeks. He glanced up at her for a split second and barely whispered;

"She's dead."

Sakura shook her head as her hands came up to cover her mouth and hold back a sob. Slowly she kneeled down next to Naruto and began to chant next to everybody else, her heart breaking as she choked out her next words carefully, being sure not to mess up the chant out of respect.

"Rest in peace, and soon live again, for the mighty Byakko has fallen and we pay our respects. Fighting spirit, reincarnate soon, under the great God of the moon."

She chanted, and chanted, and chanted. Until her throat was raw and night became day. It was ritual to do this after the great Byakko fell. The most recent reincarnation of the Byakko and been beautiful and caring. She had been a mother to all. Even to those whom weren't Neko-Yokai. Kami knows how long she'd been alive. Too long... Sakura ventured to guess. The entire underground community of night creatures would be in mourning until the next vessel for the Byakko would be chosen.

One of the great four had fallen, not having been reincarnated for several centuries. A devastation would most likely crawl over the community of Yokai, like an impending storm.

The great four, minus one, would gather. And wait. They would wait until the next Byakko was chosen and during that time chaos and crime would reach its peak like it always did. Sakura had never experienced this before, it'd been too long since one of the Tortoise, Phoenix, Dragon and Tiger had died. Not many from this century knew what to prepare for. They'd only read in books what'd happen when the great four often fell during the dark ages. Yokai lived until they were ultimately killed. They did not die of old age, nor could they die of sickness.

Hopefully the vessel would be chosen soon.

But that was all they could do;

Hope.

 **X.X.X.X**

 _I HAVE SUCH A HUGE PLOT PLANNED OUT FOR THIS YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA._

 _Ok, so in the next chapters more will be explained and just to clear up now:_

 _Neko-Yokai: Cat spirits /omens (I've obviously added my own twists to it though, but go ahead and Google Neko-Yokai is you'd like)_

 _The Byakko: The Japanese version of the Chinese White Tiger. It's one of the great four constellations in China I believe ? The other three being the Phoenix, Dragon and Tortoise as mentioned in the chapter above._

 _So I was basically doing research on Japanese culture and Shintoism and Buddhism because of a school project, and I started going off and looking up all kinds of things about it. Tbh it's really interesting, although very large considering Japan and China have a very large history and background. So this story is basically based off that stuff, although I've obviously added my own twists to some of the tales, but most is historically accurate and/or match up with the folklore and religion._


	3. Home

**Disclaimer:** Ya know, if I owned Naruto it probably wouldn't have ended the way it did :/

 **Pairing/s:** Undecided, maybe even none existent.

.

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 **\- Home -**

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The halls smelled of incense and burning wood. The lavender and frankincense smelling incense and rose scented oils, filled the entire establishment, as they had been placed all around HQ. The scents removed negative energies from entering. Their leader had fallen, they had no one but themselves to protect them from such things. It was why whenever one of the great four fell that chaos erupted abruptly after the mourning period. The Phoenix clan was often at war with the White tiger clan in the dark ages, therefore, now they would have no qualms over attacking the Neko-Yokai while they were at their lowest. Of course, this went for all other spirit clans. No one clan of the great four was in alliance with another, they were either mutual or dead to each other. No in between.

Everything just had to be about war and death.

The scent of burning wood came from several pyres surrounding the building. In respect for their God, currently waiting to ascend within another vessel from the heavens as they healed, the Neko-Yokai lit pyres of scented wood for healing and thanks towards the momentarily vacant leader. The smoke drifted towards the sky, aiding the Byakko in their recovery.

The day of the dead was coming to, usually this being the busiest time of year, not many people were around HQ. Demons that usually shrank into the shadows suddenly came to and other vile creatures spawned from hell for this precise day.

Yet nearly everyone was in attendance that day. Everything was mellow and calm.

It was hollow.

It seemed pitiable, but, without the Byakko many were lost. They felt as if they didn't have any meaning. And within the month it took for the God to ascend once again, everyone begins to question. So they wandered the corridors aimlessly, ate because it was a basic need to function and slept solely to stop feeling the way they did.

Sakura's faith never wavered.

The same went for Naruto and Sasuke.

The team of three, now dubbed as Team 7, had been bonded by sacred oath at the ripe age of 10 years old, fresh out of the academy. Their families had been drastically different, as were their personalities. It just hadn't made any sense. Sasuke was an Uchiha of the highest prestige, Naruto an orphan who had happened to get into the academy by chance, and Sakura the silly pink haired girl who really didn't care about all this fighting stuff at the time and really just wanted " _Sasuke-kun_ " to notice her.

The Uchiha's had even threatened to do something about it because of how different each member was. Uchiha Fugaku, at the time, had said, and I quote " _They will drag my son down! They will ruin the image of the Uchiha and we will become a disgrace to all Yokai! I will not have it!"_

Yeah, that didn't happen.

Team 7, over the years, grew to be one of the most widely known 3-man cells of all time. Sakura having trained under the Senju Tsunade herself, also had written exam scores that bettered even the great Uchiha Itachi. Sasuke had trained personally under Kakashi when they weren't doing team exercises as kids, but also got " _Special Uchiha training_ " as Sakura put it. Naruto had been also taken under the wing of the one and only toad Sannin, Jyraia.

What people hadn't seen at the time that the leader of HQ _had_ seen in the making of this team was; the intelligence and quick thinking of Sakura, the strength and experience in Sasuke, and the bravery and perseverance within Naruto. Together, in reality, it was the best team that could have possibly been formed.

Of course Uchiha Fugaku did _not_ see that.

Sasuke had been taken away from the team not but 2 months after being formed, they had been told that the young Uchiha'd been kidnapped. Seeing as he was the second Uchiha heir, this was quite plausible.

Sakura, being the smart shit she was, called bullshit.

Many had already depicted this and Sakura was told not to act on the theory, as she had already asked the head of HQ about it. She did none the less, because, well, she was Sakura and that was just was Sakura did.

The 10 year old pinkette alerted Naruto of her suspicions, and together they'd formulated a brilliant plan, mostly on Sakura's part, to " _bust Sasuke out of Uchiha prison_ ". B.S.O.O.U.P, for short. Yes they had been naive children at the time, shut up.

Not surprisingly, it had almost worked without them being caught.

Keyword: _Almost_

The duo had snuck in to the Uchiha compound with little problem, although still hard, thanks to Sakura's smarts and had proceeded to find the building Sasuke had been confined to for the moment. Sakura's source, being an Uchiha himself _*cough Shisui cough*_ , had been correct when telling them their raven haired teammate had been in the main house, located right in centre of the village.

Unfortunately, also the home of Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Mikoto.

The entire thing had been beyond hard, and Sakura is sure even now that that kind of "mission", although a self-appointed one; had been at least B-rank.

I don't think people can even begin to imagine how difficult it is to fit in with the Uchiha of all clans. Also sneaking around _the Uchiha Itachi_ , as well as the Uchiha patriarch and matriarch.

Byakko had had no mercy on their poor Neko-Yokai attached souls that day.

Just as the newly reunited trio had escaped the basement, which was rather luxurious looking, and was nearing the door of the large Uchiha establishment, had they heard the amused snort come from behind them.

Sakura's back went ramrod straight as she had felt the distinct presence of Uchiha Itachi's Yokai. It was very calm, like the man himself, yet unnerving somehow. Like you could just feel the overwhelming power coming from it.

To put things lightly, the man was practically blessed with extraordinary talents.

Naruto let out a string of profanities in the native tongue of his Neko-Yokai that she barely picked up on and turned around as quickly as possible, not wanting her back to the enemy. Because technically, at the moment, that was who he was.

And she wouldn't let him take Sasuke back no matter what.

She and Naruto had already started to feel the affects of not being near the third member of their cell. If was what happen when bonded by sacred oath, it was why they had such great team chemistry and over time; would become inseparable. However the bond could be broken, albeit not easily nor without feeling the affects, during the early stages of the oath. If the bonded team was not close enough to each other for more than a month, the bond would be broken. After approximately a year, it would be impossible to break said oath though. It gave the team time before knowing if they wanted to stay together for the rest of their lives, almost like marriage.

So, The young pinkette steeled herself against whatever the gifted male would throw at her. To her right, she could see Naruto doing the same and her chest swelled with pride at the fact.

In a hushed tone, she whispered harshly.

" _We're taking him back no matter what you do!_ " She'd said.

When the Uchiha heir decided to speak, she was pleasantly surprised.

 _"I understand_." He had answered. " _I'd never break a sacred bond over petty clan reasons, my father is rather foolish in that respect._ " He'd continued.

The three beamed happily.

" _Yet I will have to alert my father of what you've done._ " Instantly, surprised smiles turned to terrified faces. " _Although, I do think he'll be rather impressed than angered_."

Team 7 looked amongst each other as grins began to form once again.

" _But he will still be angry._ " Itachi had continued thoughtfully.

And it was at that moment that Sakura learned just how much Itachi liked to fuck with them.

Of course in the end they had gotten out of the prestigious clans compound in one piece, but only after a little more teasing from the older Uchiha brother. At the time Sakura was annoyed by it and a little embarrassed, yet during that first encounter with Itachi, without her knowing it, Itachi'd gained her respect.

Team seven hurried back to Sakura's quarters at HQ, where she lived with her brother. She had thought for sure that he wouldn't be back for at least another three days, but, as Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke settled on her bunk, her older brother seemed to appear out of thin air.

Naruto'd let out a girly little 'eep' abruptly after the experienced assassin made his sudden appearance and Sakura stiffened next to her sleeping raven haired teammate.

" _Sakura you know how strict HeadQuarters is about... Sleepovers._ " He'd told her knowingly through thin lips as he glanced at her teammates

The boy was still young to be a seasoned assassin, only fifteen at the time. His pale white hair gleamed a light purple under the moonlight that glowed through the small window of Sakura's bedroom. His eyes seemed to soften from their taciturn state after seeing his younger sisters grim features.

The pinkette got up from her bed, careful not to wake her sleeping teammate and gave Naruto a reassuring smile before exiting the room with her brother in tow.

In the cramped living room, Sakura threw herself onto the burgundy blanketed love-seat. In front of said seat was a small fireplace and another plush, yet worn in, chair across from her. In the middle sat a low oak wood coffee table, a deep red rug with intricate gold designs weaved through it, under the small table.

It was small, but at least it was home. Yes, home.

She lay on her back, legs swinging off the armrest as she let out an irritated sigh.

" _The Uchiha's tried to take him._ " She explained. " _They don't think we're good enough._ " The young girl voiced aloud.

Her brother eyed her suspiciously.

" _So you.._."

" _Took him back._ " The pinkette replied, smiling sheepishly.

The white haired boy let out an amused sigh accompanied by a chuckle as he sat down next to her. He shook his head lightly as she sat up and squinted at him.

" _What?_ " Sakura asked, bewildered. She'd thought he would be... Mad? Yet here he was smiling at her like an elder brother should.

" _Nothing_." He replied, his grin growing even more. " _Nothing at all._ " He said as he ruffle her short hair.

She'd always loved her brother, although he hadn't been in her life as often as she wished, he had had to take on the role of a mother, father _and_ older brother.

She'd never been told what had happened to her parents, for all she knew they could actually be alive, but she had the feeling they weren't. She didn't dare to try and find out, for it had been strictly confidential and she didn't want to get in _too_ much trouble. She could just barely remember them from when she was four anyway.

Now inside her quarters, Sakura stared longingly at her brothers bed, her shoulder leaning against the door frame, arms crossed. Her eyes traveled down to her bunk bed underneath her brothers as she remembered that night she and Naruto snuck Sasuke out of his prison of a home. Her brother was still away on his two-week long mission with his team. They would be back soon...

She realized he still didn't know of Byakko's demise.

She could only hope that her brother ran into someone else on the way here and they would explain to him. She just didn't want to be the one to do it. It didn't seem like it, but this was hitting her harder than anyone believed it to be. She put up a wall, not wanting others to see her inner turmoil.

Sakura'd known the previous Byakko vessel very well, considering the pinkette had been the leader of HQ, Tsunade's, apprentice. The Byakko's name had been Mishkali, a beautiful Russian woman who had been traveling the world for decades before the leader of all Neko-Yokai attached itself to her soul along with her present Neko-Yokai at the time. The woman had been very motherly and protective of her kind and then suddenly she'd had the power to actually protect them with the God within her.

Mishkali had been a mother to her, much like Tsunade is. Now, so suddenly, she was gone. Another parental figure, vanished before her eyes.

Sakura could feel the tears welling up in her eyes but she refused to let them spill as she took hesitant steps towards her bed. She remembered as a child, when the Byakko used to visit her often, she'd come and sit on the white duvet cover next to Sakura and speak to her calmly. She sung with the voice of an angel, a soft Russian lullaby Sakura could barely understand. Slowly the pinkette picked up on the language as her God taught her. She also knew light German and was very fluent in French and Italian because of Mishkali's teachings, the young girl soaked up all the new information like a sponge, asking nonstop questions and eagerly memorizing all the answers. She even remembers little bits and pieces of broken Latin.

The seemingly flawless woman had been her saviour.

Sakura sat down on the fine down covers and ran her hand across the particular spot her surrogate mother used to sit.

In all honestly, she really wanted her brother to come back soon. She never really saw him because of his none stop intake of missions. Finally she'd be able to see him for longer than two days at a time because of the Byakko's down fall.

She grimaced at the thought.

The Byakko's down fall...

The trained assassin shook the depressing thoughts from her minds eye. Instead memories of her younger days with team seven on this bed replaced them. Her home had been a home to her teammates as well, HQ was very strict about letting others, even close friends and teammates, stay at another's quarters. However, Sakura's case had been let go because of the teams unfortunate familial backgrounds. Sakura, of course, being parentless, still had a brother, where as Naruto did not, and Sasuke... Well Sasuke didn't really see a _family_ in his family.

So more often than not, team seven gathered at the pinkettes small home. They had dinners together and made a mess of the kitchen when her brother wasn't home, they spent Christmas Eve together in front of the minuscule fireplace and exchanged gifts. Birthdays would often be spent in town yet they always came back home in the end. Sakura's home. Their home.

And that's what it was;

Home.

A place of sad, angry and happy memories. A place of comfort.

And as Sakura got up after hearing her door burst open and Naruto's distinct bantering with Sasuke, she let herself smile for the first time after hearing the news of their beloved leaders death.

"Sakura! We're home!" The blond exclaimed.

Sakura's eyes soften.

Yeah, home.

 **X.X.X.X**

 _Please review! Also, if I made any gramatical errors or any errors at all please PM me!_

 _Thanks for reading~_


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